this polling places opened late because poll workers could not get the touch free voting machines operating properly. but by midmorning, these voters were able to cast their ballots. >> the city needs a change now. no more paper. >> i think he is young and spoiled. >> both candidates campaigned. >> people were saying, we're born to vote for fenty and we will vote for -- we are going to vote for fenty and we will vote for a mayor who acts in a fine fashion. >> both were hoping to grab some last-minute support. >> i think he has the city moving in the right direction and i think he deserves another try. >> as of right now, all of the

problems have been fixed. the board of elections said that many people to the advantage of the opportunity to vote early. 26,000 cast early ballots. >> if you want to see which polling places are still having problems, go totbd.com for tracking all of those issues. >> tonight, making the final push for sheriff across maryland. sheriff michael jackson spent the day talking to voters about his record over the past year and also in the battleground maryland, gov. o'malley is

expected to easily win the democratic nomination. bob ehrlich is up against brian murphy. sarah palin threw her support brian murphy.ehind >> this is coming in from paris were the eiffel tower has been evacuated because of a bomb threat. traffic has not been stopped, we are told, but police are on scene. we will keep you posted. a postal worker died after being hit by a car driven by a prince george's county police officer. the officer was driving to work around 6:30 a.m. this morning when he hit the postal worker. >> he was driving a police cruiser and at this point, investigators are telling us it appears is shaping have to be

purely a tragic accident on a dark prince george's county road. >> news choppers 7 was over had as detectives worked the scene where prince george's county police cruiser driven by an off- duty officer heading to work this truck ron burgess -- struck ron burgess this morning. >> i knew he had gotten ya by a car. >> verges was walking to a postage facility. he had been a mail handler since 1995. >> it was fairly dark outside this morning and the pedestrian had on dark clothing and was not in the crosswalk. >> made -- and neighbors said he often drove to work and had not heard about this morning's at -- accident. >> mmm-mmm, this is really

shocking. >> the investigation into this accident is continuing at this point. investigators were able to say that speed and alcohol were not factors in this crash. as for the officer, he remains on duty, but will be off for the next several days. >> in fairfax county, a construction flight has been recovered after a car hit id -- construction flag has been recovered after a car hit it. the driver did say -- stay there on the scene appeared the victim did suffer some injuries. it briefly shut down the road. >> more communications problems for metro.

morris joins us with the latest. >> all the problems started when the escalators and the elevator here at the wheaton metro station suddenly broke yesterday and metro had to shut them down. this is cellphone video shot inside the metro elevator. they were trapped in there for several minutes and tell metro personnel got them out. by 5:45 p.m. yesterday kamal three elevators and escalators had broken down and metro decided to close the station. been around 7:00, according to one passenger, the train suddenly stopped at the whaeton station. they got about halfway up the

escalator. but people started screaming at us and told us to -- >> people started screaming at us and told us to get back on the train. >> officials do not believe the passengers were at in any danger, but it is investigating why the train operator stopped at the wheaton station. it is something we will have to follow up on with our personnel. >> metro also says it apologizes for any inconvenience and confusion last night. but they also go on to say that they had no knowledge that any engineer or metro employee ever told a passenger they were in danger while they were on those escalators. >> a stretch of road near a maryland shopping center is back open tonight. a water main broke near will

loderdale drive near the shopping center. -- near pueblodale drive near the shopping center -- willowdale drive near the shopping center. it has been beautiful. >> yes, but we need some rain. how long will this dry weather continued, dad? >> if you take late thursday -- continue, doug? >> if you take late thursday night and early friday morning at of the equation, it will time.nue for some time mid mid-level moisture over had it. 79 in leesburg, 73 in gaithersburg.

77 in the play that and buie. -- la plata and bouie. >> not to a developing story out of iran. shourd 4 months, sarah showere has left iran and is now reunited with her mother. >> she landed in elmont a short time ago into -- in oman a short time ago where family was waiting. but this reunion was bittersweet. >> it was a long reunion with her family. she left iran earlier after more than a year in captivity. >> i want to offer my thanks to

everyone in the world, all of the government and people involved, especially i want to address ahmadinejad and all of the iranian officials and leaders and thank them for their humanitarian gestures. >> the 32-year-old california native and two other hikers were arrested after straying over the border between iraq and iran. she spent 14 months in solitary confinement after only brief tearful visit from her mother in may. she was released because she has health issues and somebody paid a very expensive bail. >> we hope the same outcome will

happen regarding the other two as soon as possible. >> all are celebrating her return home. >> it is still unclear who put up the half million dollar bail money. her family did not have the money and the u.s. government said it did not pay it either as againste trainesanctions transactions with the iran stayed bake. -- state bank. >> there is an eye opening gender gap hitting bathrooms everywhere. who washes their hands more, men or women? >> [unintelligible] now he is doing some serious backtracking. >> unfortunately, i founded and at that. it was too late. >>

>> there is a lot of talk tonight about a female reporter allegedly being harassed by -- some players on the jets'

football team. >> caroline is live in the newsroom. >> and now we have apology's by two teams, one player, in the nfl in the middle of it. and the reporter is saying it was not as bad as it seems. >> the baltimore ravens beat the new york jets in a nail biter on monday night football, but it was the woman who calls herself the hottest reporter in mexico who grabbed the spotlight. >> it is very common to dress like this. >> her comments came after several players apparently made catcalls and taunted her. it made her uncomfortable. johnson called her to apologize.

>> i said, don't worry, i'm fine. i am a professional. and he told me that he cannot allow that kind of thing to happen on his team. >> now it seems the redskins are doing damage control. on the radio port is said a woman is going to want somebody when she goes into the locker room. if you see a nice woman in the locker room men are going to want to turn and look and say something. >> forbis later apologized for those words, saying that reporting is a tough job. what else did he say? all of that coming up later in sports. >> there is new data out about a

growing gender gap, but we're not talking about pay here. health officials went undercover in public restrooms to see who is actually washing up. in atlanta, 98% of women wash their hands, while one out of every three men left the bathroom and walked right past the scene. but there is a silver lining to this dirty discovery. >> the good news is, we're doing more and more of it and better and more thoroughly. >> overall, observers say 85% of adults wash their hands. that is up 77% from three years ago. the studies were done in new york, chicago, atlanta and san francisco. the men need to step up their game a little bit. [laughter] >> president obama is back with a new back-to-school message for

the country's schoolchildren. >> life is precious and part of what makes it so wonderful is its diversity, that all of us are different. we should not be embarrassed by the things that make us different. we should be proud of them. >> president obama went to a philadelphia school to deliver today's nationally televised pep talk. schools were not required to error that speech. he also went on to say that they can accomplish big things if they dream big and work hard. a 40-page book is due to be released november 16 and is a tribute to 13 people the president called ground eight -- groundbreaking americans, including jackie robinson and georgia o'keeffe. but i can only imagine it will be another best seller. -- >> i can only imagine it will

be another best seller. >> we need rain, but there is not a darn thing we can do about it. a few scattered showers thursday night. >> we are complaining that the weather is too good. >> that is right. in bethesda, getting a good idea of the cloud patterns that we had today. it's pretty interesting sky. low-level moisture, but no rain coming behind the front. this trend will continue through the evening. the 76 now at andrews air force base. 78 in silver spring now. wind gusts up to 21 miles per hour. eight of wind at providence elementary school. a big wind of 23 miles per hour.

we expect we'd to be a big deal this time of year. -- we expect weeds to be a big deal this time of year. ragweed has been the main allergen. normally, the ragweed peaks just about now in the middle of september, but this red line indicates this is the actual measure of ragweed. even though we are at the peak, it is peaking at much higher levels than in normally does. a few that had some problems, sneezing, watery eyes and running as, i am not a doctor, but i think it has a lot to do with it. it will improve next week or so. 94 at raleigh/durham. hot stuff pushing its way through the region. 93 in dallas and houston.

91 in new orleans. very hot and humid weather. on average next week we will probably be above average. that is because the air masses are strong enough to push south, but they do not have the trajectory coming out of canada that they will later in october and november when you get the trail in the air. the -- the chill in the air. fort umar, high pressure will push through -- for tomorrow, high pressure will push through. 70's and 80's. we will call a 30% chance of scattered showers thursday night and then after that another long stretch of dry days. it 62 in the morning in this city, 50's in the suburbs. we should live up to about 80 in the afternoon on thursday.

as we head into friday, a couple of showers possible in the morning. then we get back to sunshine. the rain will be pretty much finished sunshine in the forecast saturday, sunday, monday, and tuesday and the temperature back in the mid 80's for next week. >> a double dose of wyck out on abc7 prime-time tonight. -- a double dose of wipe out on abc7 prime-time tonight. we do not need these people getting injured. >> and no, not at all. >> no mercy tonight on wipe out

at 8:00 and 9:00 followed by no witness and abc7 news at 11:00 p.m. >> coming up, some employees -- state employees have to pay back thousands of dollars. and new video and 911 calls from the san bruno

>> video and 911 calls are now emerging right after the gas explosion in san bruno california. >> now, questions are being asked about the safety of gas lines in residential neighborhoods. >> we have possibly several blocks on fire at this time. >> in the moments following the explosion, the scene in san bruno was pure chaos. >> we have reports of occupants trapped. we need to clear lines at 151 clermont. >> there were citizens fleeing the street, running up the hill. the san bruno police department was arriving on scene. it was chaotic. >> the names of the fourth

victims have been recovered -- the bodies and names of the four victims have been recovered. >> i do not know if we want to live here. >> if it can happen in san bruno, it can happen anywhere. consider this, the nation has to in half million miles of subterranean pipeline and much of it is old. pg&e said it had been inspected as recently as march. >> a former p.g. and the employee is suing the company, he says, for turning a blind eye to safety. >> coming up, how would you like a four-day work week? it will become a reality for some local workers. >> residents tried to make

their roads matter in heavy seas primary. >> this hardly looks like a weapon of choice, at a garage door opener. but that is exactly

♪ i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪

>> berger lawyers are getting into some homes, but they are not breaking in. but that is right, they are using? >> that is right, they're using the owner's garage door opener to get in. >> it is a warning coming from the sheriff's department saying they are having an increasing problem with this. people spend hundreds of dollars on security systems and lock all their doors, but then they leave the car in the driveway with the karradah door opener inside. -- the garage door opener inside. >> danielle describes how burglars used her own garage door opener to get inside. loudoun county sheriff is warning that after a rash of similar break-ins last weekend

-- >> the go into your house while your there. they know your home. that is a little more risky and dangerous. >> cash, credit cards, cameras and sell phones, all among the items stolen. >> in your particular case, they broke into your car, which was right there in the driveway of your home. but that is correct. our house is well with and we live -- >> that is correct. our house is well lit and we live on a bright streak. >> we were all at home and sleeping in our beds. >> what worries her most is that the garages is right underneath her kids' bedrooms. if they had heard it opened

up, i do not know if they had -- if they would have gone looking for if they would have gotten us. >> one of the credit card stolen from her wallet, the thieves actually rack up more than $1,000 in debt on the internet in just a couple of hours. >> thank you. an international student hit by an alleged drug driver has died. 26-year-old julia boxleitner was hit by another student last week. but two were attending johns hopkins -- the two were attending johns hopkins and many of the students are distraught. >> county employees are finding out that they are either -- have

been overpaid or underpaid by the county for several years now in one case, an employee has to return nearly $10,000. >> we are allowing them to use a combination of options and we will certainly work with individuals who identify financial hardship. >> those who are underpaid will receive a check for the total amount. they figured out how to make sure it does not happen again. >> some 80,000 voters are essentially left out of the process because they are not going to count. stephen tells us about how some are going to make their votes count. >> angry about being left out of the democratic primary, some d.c. republicans are trying to make a democrat their nominee.

>> the hotly contested democratic primary, since about 75% and district voters are democrats, it usually determines who will be the next mayor. but what about the roughly thousand voters who are not democrats? >> they are shut out of having any say in government. >> some voters are not true believers, such as yvonne fulbright, joined the democratic party just so she could vote. >> it is not really fair. >> but there are some republicans who plan to vote in their party's primary and believe they have a say in the next mayor's -- in who becomes the next mayor. >> some republicans believe fenty is issuing for their party's nomination. >> i voted for mayor fenty has a right in. >> a group of activists were

going to their polling places today even though there was no republican candidate. now they are hoping for a fenty victory and for democrats to accept the republican nomination. >> i hope that he accepts the nomination. it affects all of this is perfectly legal. if adrian fenty loses in the democratic primary, but when the republican nomination, he will have three days to decide whether or not to accept the republican nomination. >> this is going to be an interesting race tonight. we will keep you posted. meanwhile, in and is recovering after a car hit him in montgomery county. it was a long metropolitan avenue along edgewood road in kensington. the pedestrian suffered just a minor leg injury. authorities have not said if the driver will face charges.

and some prince george's county bus drivers said they will not return to work until their demands are met. passengers have had to wait as many as 40 minutes or longer than normal for a ride on the bus. the driver said they want better pay and job security. fares on the bus are suspended until the strike ends. >> having a tough day here on the geico camera. as you can see, a pretty tough day. just slow traffic. all your lanes are open, no problems ahead of you. this is going to begin somewhere around 355. georgetown road, as you can see, everything is fine, but as you get past this, is when

everything slows down on the beltway. this ends it just ran millington and in your good all the way to fredericksburg, which is better than i can usually tell you on southbound 95 in virginia. >> coming up, the best companies for working mothers. see which local businesses made the list. >> and a revelation in the massive aid recall. whitey host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? did the little piggy cry wee wee wee all the way home? piggy: weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeee weeeeeeee. mom: max. ...maxwell!

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to see how we can help your cash flow situation. pnc. for the achiever in us all. >> you might soon have to talk with a pharmacist first before you can grab a bottle of cough syrup. >> julie parker joins us now with details. >> this high is supposedly like being on pcp. it is easily available, relatively inexpensive, and found in many people's homes. increased reports of abuse and addiction now has the government's attention. >>: was it your item -- all- american teenager, but he was

secretly getting high for much of high-school on over-the- counter cough syrup. his mother, in years, always talked to him about the effects of -- a nurse, always talked to him about the effects of drugs and alcohol. she never thought to talk to him about cough syrup. last year, nearly 18,000 teenagers landed inside emergency rooms because of it. childrens o abusing it also -- often take up to 30 times the recommended dosage. an fda committee is working to determine whether cough syrup should be with a prescription or be kept behind a farce the counter. -- a pharmacy counter. but some say that is going

overboard. >> when you have any alleged abuse four times higher, marijuana use many times higher, this is not the most serious threat facing a lot of families. >> we just got laid word that the fda panel just voted against the proposal that would require a doctor's note for half syrup. experts said making the products description would be too burdensome. -- making the product prescription would be too burdensome. >> a heartbreaking story. >> and back from haiti

butz months after the devastating earthquake in haiti, one local woman is still helping victims khiel. >> she just recently returned from haiti and she told us a bit about her experience. >> such a unique story. the earthquake in haiti have been almost nine months ago, but people there are still waiting for medical care.

one local doctor just got back from helping. >> she's 21 years old and just now getting the chance to walk. >> this one woman lost both of her legs. she is like so many who lost their lives in the january earthquake. -- lost their legs in the january earthquake. we first introduced you to this doctor in may. but she left the d.c. and spent three and a half months in haiti, working alongside people lost hands, feet, and legs in the earthquake. >> we had a 12-year-old who lost her family and her leg above the knee. >> they worked together every day and live together in a house. >> i get to see the bright side of things after such a tragedy. >> children, women and men wear

their with her for priceless moments, like when they learned to walk for the very first time again. >> either it to take every day one day at a time and to be grateful for each day that you are given. >> amazing, what they are doing. >> medical research at georgetown university is getting a big shot in the arm. the university has received an $87 million endowment, the largest in its history. it comes from a trust established in gary tuolumne and's will. he was the first one in his family to graduate from the school of medicine. >> just two weeks after gun man james lee took them hostage, at the employees and security guards are going to appear on the oprah winfrey show. police shot and killed james

lee. it you can watch this interview thursday on the upper right here on abc7 -- on oprah right here on abc7 at 4:00 p.m. nine people died when a small plane in a tour helicopter collided over the hudson river. at a hearing today, investigators faulted the faa procedures, saying the pilots are often left to do their best to avoid each other without guidance from the tower. but >> working mother magazine just released its list of the 100 best working -- best companies for working moms. 10 local once made the cut. capital one and freddie mac are included. also, fannie mae and the national education association. the magazine made its choice is

based on the company's family friendly benefits. those benefits are like flex time, commuting and other benefits. >> we are following the candidates in the race for mayor of d.c.. also coming up at 6:00 p.m., the investigation of millions of tainted eggs. we will have those stories and a lot more new at 6:00 p.m. cuts in the meantime, let's keep our eye on this weather. what is the latest -- >> in the meantime, let's keep our eye on this weather. >> only a few scattered showers possible late thursday early friday. this is a camera in arlington.

the loop -- beautiful cloud formations out there, no rain. clearing skies and cooler temperatures expected overnight. two hurricanes in the tropics and a brand new baby tropical storm. all the way over to the right, that is tropical storm julia. 85 mile per hour winds. that is eventually not supposed to be any effect. the other is hurricane igor with 145 mile per hour winds. it could pass close to bermuda on sunday with category three wins at 125 m.p.h. or so. now we have a brand new wende, tropical storm karl. top winds are now 40 miles per hour. it looks like it may be to

regain strength sometime on wednesday night. -- may reach hurricane strength sometime wednesday night. not much activity around here. we're over an inch and a half short of rainfall in washington since june. unfortunately, no significant rain natalee in the next seven days, but probably the next six to 10 -- not only in the next seven days, but probably be next six to 10 at least. >> this issue has definitely gone people talking. >> the clinton board has apologized this afternoon. but the comments he made about female reporters on -- about the comments he made about female reporters in the locker room. if you missed it, a female

reporter said she was sexually harassed in the jets' locker room on saturday and clinton forces responded today with this flip comment. >> if you get a baby and you go in and you've got it -- if you've got a lady and you go in and you've got 53 men [unintelligible] >> that set off a firestorm and this afternoon he released a statement tuesday -- saying he was wrong to make the comments. it is a tough job and he respects it. the nfl released this statement saying that his comments were clearly inappropriate and have no place in the nfl locker room. >> i will tell you that i do not like men or women in that locker room. it is a sanctuary.

it is full of the motion and naked people. leave the locker room for the players and team personnel. if you want to go talk to players come and go into a common room. the championship . that conclusion was overwhelming for one of the greatest -- the championship point at conclusion was one -- for one of the greatest players in tennis history was overwhelming. >> up next, -- >> coming up, i will tell you more about the controversy will >> coming up, i will tell you more about the controversy will idea to come

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>> a four-day work week for some virginia workers. but there is controversy surrounding the idea for state employees and taxpayers. >> of the department of motor vehicles is not likely on the list of places that will close on fridays, it may be a location to get more services from a one-stop shop approach to government. virginia gov. bob macdonald wants to cut expenses, not services. the idea of having some employees work four 10-hour days is something that could save the commonwealth million bits. -- could save the commonwealth millions. but not everyone is convinced. >> if people feel a barrier -- a barrier on their time and i

think they will be happy to pay extra to make it work. >> a pilot is being tried out. state leaders know that anything having to do with public safety, public health, red that generates revenue for the state will not be on a list of being closed on fridays. some offices could suffer, especially when it comes to child care issues. >> i think it will affect the child care and i think they should take that into consideration. >> the government wants state workers and taxpayers to weigh in on the idea. they will revisit the recommendations again on september it 16. >> coming your way at 6:00 p.m. we are live with one of the men vying for the top d.c. job.

>> the polls are open, but the turnout is light. >> and the iceland tower is evacuating -- the eiffel tower is evacuated due to a bomb threat. >> live and in hd, this is abc7 breaking news. >> tonight, we begin with breaking details in the race for d.c. mayor. >> just two hours and counting before the polls close. one is asking for an extension. we're live at the great campaign headquarters -- bray campaign headquarters. >> -- live at the gray campaign headquarters. >> this morning, gray